Ozone is a powerful oxidant readily oxidizing organic pollutants, inorganic pollutants and micro-organisms. As ozone reacts, it breaks down into oxygen thereby providing an environmentally friendly alternative to halogenated oxidants. Consequently, ozone is ideal for use in water and air treatment.
Although ozone generators have been used extensively to purify water in swimming pools and improve residential air quality, commercial establishments that expel harmful exhaust gases into the atmosphere or generate noxious odors have not taken advantage of the oxidizing properties of ozone to purify the exhaust air that they emit into the atmosphere. Part of the reason is that known ozone generators are incapable of being mounted directly onto an air exhaust outlet pipe or furnace flue of a building. Known ozone generators are also large and bulky and incapable of high capacity air treatment that is needed by such commercial establishments.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,481, issued to Weaver, discloses an ozone generation apparatus with a housing containing an ozone generator that fits into an opening cut into a panel of an air duct. A second housing containing the electric potential generation means is fastened to the panel. The housing has a pair of porous walls which allow air to flow through the housing to the metal grid plates which generate ozone. This device can be mounted in air handling systems but installation is time-consuming and requires a skilled technician. The device is also bulky since it has multiple housings.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,131, issued to Slipiec et al., discloses an ozone generative unit with multiple electrode and dielectric tube assemblies in electric contact surrounded by a cylindrical casing. Each assembly has three concentric dielectric tubes with decreasing axial lengths from the outermost to the innermost tube. There is a mesh electrode on the internal surface of each tube and a more rigid mesh electrode on the external surface of the tube. Aside from being bulky, Slipiec et al's device is not capable of being installed on an air outlet pipe.
The following patents disclose complex ozone generators incapable of being mounted onto an air outlet pipe and producing ozone on a commercial scale: U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,657, issued to Carlson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,843, issued to Kuan, U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,927, issued to Mausgrover, U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,971, issued to Gneupel, U.S. Pat. No. 2,658,868, issued to Collison.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,657, issued to Carlson, discloses a complex ozone generator having a series of cells that generate ozone which is then injected into a stream of water or discharged into a room.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,843, issued to Kuan, discloses an ozonizer having an ozone converter comprising of an insulating inner pipe, a conductive outer pipe, an air passage between the inner pipe and the outer pipe, and an electrode screen coupled to an electrode member within the inner pipe.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,927, issued to Mausgrover, discloses an ozone generator having an inner electrode with a mass of helical windings which may have milled sponges and an outer electrode separated by a dielectric tube. A second tube of dielectric material surrounding the ozone converter defines an air passageway.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,971, issued to Gneupel, discloses an ozone generator with a core, a helically shaped groove formed around the core to provide a passage for the air and the ozone that is formed, an inner electrode, an outer electrode, and a dielectric tube between the inner and outer electrodes, a cooling channel internal to the core, and an outer jacket surrounding the outer electrode having fins in an axial direction which radiate the heat produced. The core may serve as an inner electrode.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,658,868, issued to Collison, discloses an ozone generator which comprises a cylindrical gas chamber with a pair of end walls, a cylindrical inner chamber with a pair of end walls, a pair of electrodes positioned on either side of the inner chamber, an oxygen pipe connected to oxygen tanks to provide oxygen to the gas chamber, and an outlet pipe to remove the ozone generated by the electrodes.
Accordingly, the object of this invention is to provide for an ozone generator that can be easily installed onto the air outlet duct particularly of commercial establishments and is capable of treating air flowing through the outlet duct before it exits into the atmosphere.